South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales by Craig Brokensha (issued Wednesday 23rd March)

Best Days: Every day over the coming period, biggest tomorrow and Friday morning

Recap

A mix of good easing S/SE groundswell and slowly building E'ly trade-swell the last couple of days, clean and good each morning.

This week and next (Mar 24 – Apr 1)

Our coming E'ly trade-swell event is still on track, with ASCAT satellite images between New Zealand and Fiji/New Caledonia showing a very healthy fetch of E/SE gales on top an already active sea state.

What has resulted is a moderate sized E'ly trade-swell with a stronger E'ly groundswell pulse for tomorrow morning/midday.

Open beaches should see easy 3-4ft surf, with strong 5ft sets from the Sunshine Coast through the Mid North Coast, holding most of the day, before starting to ease back from 3-4ft+ Friday morning (quicker north of the border due to the fetch dipping south-east and across New Zealand through last night this morning.

A slow easing trend will continue through the weekend, but not dipping below an inconsistent 3ft on the sets due to a healthy and persistent fetch of strong E'ly winds east of New Zealand's North Island.

There'll be one final pulse of very inconsistent long-range E/SE groundswell for mainly Queensland through next week, and this will be generated by a deepening tropical low in our far swell window south of Tahiti through tomorrow evening and Friday.

A great looking fetch of 35kt+ E/SE winds will be produce over an active sea state, with a very inconsistent long-range E/SE groundswell arriving Wednesday afternoon and peaking Thursday morning to 3ft+ across open beaches. Due to the shadowing of New Zealand's North Island and unfavourable Great Circle Path, locations south of the border will see gradually less size.

Now, coming back to this week, and there's an overperforming S'ly groundswell moving up the NSW coast, generated by a vigorous polar low south-west of Tassie at the start of the week.

This swell should arrive across the North Coast this later this afternoon and provide 3ft to possibly 4ft sets across swell magnets, easing back through tomorrow from a similar or slightly smaller size.

Saturday morning should see small levels of refracted S'ly groundswell to 2ft to maybe 3ft from a small fast tracking low under and east of Tassie this afternoon and evening.

Behind this a flurry of strong polar frontal activity producing good swells for Bells should produce further S'ly groundswell pulses for later Sunday and more so Monday afternoon.

Size wise, a kick to 3ft+ is due across south swell magnets Sunday afternoon, with Monday's kick being better and more to 3-4ft through the mid-late afternoon, easing back into Tuesday.

None of these S'ly groundswell pulses will impact north of the border, with the Tweed the last chance to capitalise on the action.

Coming back to the conditions over the coming week and we're looking at good local offshore breezes each morning from tomorrow through early next week, opening up plenty of options.